


i never meant to leave you, sunshine

by egnlotsc



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egnlotsc/pseuds/egnlotsc
Summary: "It had been so long since he had seen her, he was almost nervous. How would she react? How much had changed since he last saw her, that summer evening three years ago?"Sappy futurefic AU where Leo doesn't return from a quest, leaving Calypso heartbroken until one day, he does-or the one where Leo finally finds his way back home, and discovers something (or someone) who changes his life in an instant
Relationships: Calypso & Leo Valdez
Kudos: 7





	i never meant to leave you, sunshine

Calypso sighed, trying to swallow down the tears she could feel forming in her eyes as she balanced Ethan on her hip, using her other hand to flip the egg in the pan in front of her. She tried to ignore the clock's red numbers that seemed etched into her brain - 9:36. 

Ethan sniffled, pulling her out of her thoughts as she realized the egg was burning. She quickly turned off the burner, setting Ethan down gently in his high chair before scooping the darkened egg out of the pan and placing it on a plate. She set the plate down, sinking into her chair and burying her face into her hands. She could feel her hair fall like a curtain across her face, but she didn't bother to move it. 

When she finally looked up, her face was wet with tears. Calypso glanced at Ethan, taking a deep breath and standing. She needed to be strong. If not for her, for her son. As she adjusted his bib, beginning to spoon some mashed bananas into a bowl, her mind wandered back to that fateful night a little over three years ago. 

**

Calypso paced the room, tapping her foot impatiently as she dialed Rachel's number for the fourth time in the past ten minutes. She tried to ignore the growing dread she felt as she listened to the phone's dial tone. After the fourth ring, Rachel finally picked up. "Hey Cal, what's up?" Rachel asked, but Calypso could tell something was off by her reserved tone.

"Rach, where's Leo? He said he'd be home three hours ago. I'm starting to get worried." Rachel cleared her throat, hesitating before answering. "Cal...he never came back to camp." Calypso's stomach dropped as she registered Rachel's words. For some reason, her gaze caught on the clock across the room, which read 9:36. "What?" "He was supposed to come back from his quest today. But he never did. Chiron has a few campers searching the woods, and Thalia and the Hunters are on his trail." 

Calypso tried to keep her grip on the phone, her voice shaky. "Rach, why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have come by. I could have done something. I could have-" "Cal, stop," Rachel cut off her impending tirade. "We were waiting to see if he was just late. It's not unusual for him. But when I saw you called I realized we needed to tell you. Cal, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through." 

Calypso took a deep breath, ignoring the tears sliding down her cheek. "Rach, can you have Hermes come and get me? I need to be at camp. I-I don't want to be alone." Calypso admitted. "Of course, Cal. I'll see you soon," Rachel replied. Calypso lowered the phone, sinking to the floor as she tried to process the fact that her husband was missing.

Suddenly, she understood how Annabeth had felt during those eight months Percy went missing when they were sixteen. She didn't even look up when a flash of light enveloped her, transporting her to Camp Half-Blood where Rachel, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel were standing, ready to welcome her with open arms. And eventually, ready to help her through when she discovered she was pregnant two weeks later. 

**

Leo cursed (in Ancient Greek, of course) as he tripped over a small rock in the yard. He took a moment to stop, taking in the sight of his house - their house - for the first time in over a year. He couldn't contain the growing excitement he felt as he walked up the path, admiring his wife's pristine garden in front of the porch. 

He could almost imagine her in front of him, kneeling in the dirt digging away as she rolled her eyes at some stupid joke he made. He would then throw some dirt at her, chasing her around the yard before he finally caught her, circling his arms around her waist and holding her close. 

He pulled himself out of the memory, his heart aching as the need to hold her in his arms again, to even catch a glimpse of her one more time, became overwhelming. He adjusted the tool belt around his waist before stepping up the few steps to the porch, his fist hovering over the door as he hesitated. It had been so long since he had seen her, he was almost nervous. How would she react? How much had changed since he last saw her, that summer evening three years ago? 

He took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A few seconds passed in agonizing silence before the door swung open. At first, Leo had thought the door opened by itself before movement near his feet caused him to look down. He almost choked as he noticed a small boy, no more than two years old, clutching a stuffed dragon and staring at him with large brown, almond eyes identical to Calypso's. The boy frowned at him, stepping closer to Leo. 

Before Leo could do anything, the sound of a woman's voice cut through the defeaning silence. "Ethan? Oh gods, Ethan where are you? Did you open the door? What did I tell you about opening the door for - " her sentence was abruptly cut short as she stepped into the room, her gaze locking with his. "-strangers." She finished, her voice barely a whisper. 

All Leo could do was stare at his wife, unable to process how unbelievably beautiful she looked. Her long auburn hair shone in the sliver of golden sunlight from the open door as it spilled across her shoulders and down her back, complimenting her warm brown eyes. Leo sucked in a breath as he recognized the shirt she was wearing - it was one of his. It was far too big for her, hanging down past her waist, only revealing a sliver of the thin cotton shorts she wore underneath. Her feet were bare.

When he looked back up at her, tears were streaming down her face, her eyes glinting with countless different emotions - first shock, then disbelief, then joy, and finally settling on a delicate mixture of hurt and anger. "Leo Valdez." She said, breaking the silence that had descended upon them as Leo looked his wife up and down. Her voice was calm, but he could hear the pain and anger buried within the words. His heart squeezed painfully. 

He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless, but with the way she was looking at him, he was worried he wouldn't get the chance. Her bottom lip quivered as she marched up to him. He noticed first her familiar cinnamon fragrance that caused his heart to beat faster. He wanted to bury his face in her shoulder, and never let go. She poked a finger in his chest, glaring at him. He didn't fail to notice the way she flinched when her finger hit his chest. It was almost as if she wasn't expecting him to be real. Of course, he couldn't blame her. He still hard a hard time believing that she was still standing in their house, wearing his shirt. 

He also noticed the glint of her wedding rings on her left hand. He could feel himself tearing up as he realized that she had waited for him, for three whole years. She never took her rings off, and neither did he. "How-How dare you leave me, Leo. After three thousand years of waiting on someone, anyone, you came. And then you left. And then you came back, and took me with you. We created a life together, Leo. And then you leave me for the second time. For three entire years. Gods, I..." her voice trailed off as her face crumpled, tears streaming more steadily down her cheeks. 

Leo stepped closer, until they were nose-to-nose. He gently lifted a hand, cupping her face gently as he looked into her eyes, which swirled with pain and...hope? "Sunshine," he whispered, enjoying the way her eyes lit up for a moment in recognition of the her nickname. He gently wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I never wanted to leave you, Cal. Never. Unfortunately, this time I didn't have a choice. I was taken by a group of minor giants that had escaped Tartaraus before we were able to close the doors. They wanted revenge because we had defeated Gaea." Calypso's face softened, but he could still see the walls she had built holding steady.

"They took me across the country. I'm not sure where I ended up. Somewhere near Alaska. When I woke up, I couldn't remember much. My memory wasn't wiped, like Percy's, though. It was just a side effect of the magic they used to capture me. They kept me there for two years, Sunshine. I managed to escape after I constructed a device that temporarily trapped the giants, and completely restored my memory. I worked my way to Camp Jupiter. It took me another year, but I arrived there almost dead, for the second time. 

"They kept me there until they could heal me, and as soon as I could walk, I took the first shadow-travel ticket home. Home to you," he finished, gently running a hand through her hair. She leaned into his palm, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them. When she did, there was a fire inside of them he hadn't seen in three years, and didn't realize how much he missed until this moment. 

She smiled before launching herself into his arms, crashing her lips against his. He grinned in response, kissing her back with three years' worth of love and passion. She wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing him for a few more moments before pulling back, burying her face in his neck. He ran a hand through his mess of curly dark brown hair, using his other arm to support Calypso, who still had her face buried in his shoulder. 

He was about to set her down when he felt a tug on his pant leg, and he looked down into the face of the toddler who looked like a carbon copy of him when he was that age, with the exception of Calypso's eyes and a splash of freckles across the boy's nose. "Mama?" the boy asked as he looked up at Calypso, confirming all of Leo's suspicions as to the child's identity. Leo felt as if his world had been turned upside down. 

Calypso seemed to notice his hesitation, pulling back. Her gaze landed on the boy, whom Leo was pretty sure was named Ethan, and back to Leo, her expression torn. Leo looked down at his wife, taking a deep breath. He tried to calculate in his head. If the boy looked to be around two, add nine months - his heart skipped a beat as he realized that three years had passed. "Cal..." he trailed off. She bit her lip, bending down and scooping the boy into her arms. "Leo, meet Ethan. Your son." 

Leo was convinced a bomb could have gone off in the front yard, and he wouldn't have noticed as he processed what Calypso had just said. His son. The boy squirmed in Calypso's arms, reaching out towards Leo. Leo met Calypso's eyes before picking his son out of his wife's arms, resting him against his chest. The boy's almond eyes twinkled with mischief that was so familiar to Leo. "Hi, da-da." Ethan giggled, bouncing his dragon plush up and down. Leo kissed his son's forehead before setting him down, watching him waddle towards the couch, plopping down in the center of the rug. 

Leo looked back at his wife, who was staring at him with a mixture of adoration and worry. "I found out around two weeks after you went missing. It was hard to ignore the morning sickness. He was born nine months later, on September 26th." Leo's heart squeezed painfully as he realized that Calypso had gone through the pregnancy all alone, without him. His son had grown up, without him. Calypso seemed to notice the look on his face and bit her lip, staring at the ground. When she looked up again, a tear was rolling down her cheek. 

Leo pulled his wife into his arms, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she avoided his gaze. He gently hooked a finger under her chin, causing her to look into his eyes. "Cal...there is no way for me to make up for this. I was gone for three years, Sunshine. I left you, alone, with our child. I wasn't there for you..." Calypso shook her head as he trailed off. "Leo, you were kidnapped. It wasn't your fault. I admit, I thought you had left because you didn't want to be with me anymore. But over time I came to realize that you did love me, and you would come back. I waited for you, Leo." 

"Sunshine, how could you ever think I would willingly leave you?" Calypso looked away from him, at a spot over his left shoulder. "I-I don't know. Gods, I don't know, Leo. You spent all of your time in that bunker. I became worried that you were trying to avoid me. Maybe you regretted your decision to bring me back from Ogygia. Maybe you found somebody else and didn't know how to tell me. I've spent my whole life alone on an island, heartbroken after yet another hero leaves me in the dust. You can't blame me for doubting you. We only knew each other for a month before you left the first time, Leo." 

Leo tried to ignore the pain in his heart as he listened to his wife, the love of his life, tell him that she worried he didn't love her anymore. That he regretted saving her from her eternal prison. "Cal, you should have told me that you missed me when I was in Bunker Nine," he whispered, running his thumb across her cheek. "I only spent time there so I could finalize the plans for our shop. I wanted to get it done so I could finally come home to you and our family."

Calypso looked up, her eyes wide. "Our family?" Leo nodded, glancing at Ethan, who was playing with a small figurine that looked like the Mythomagic ones Nico had in his cabin. "Yes, Sunshine. Even before you discovered you were pregnant I was counting down the days until we were truly ready for a family. I didn't know how much I wanted to build something permanent with you, well, with anyone, for that matter, until I met you. You gave me a reason, Cal. You did since the moment I left your island that first time. I stopped at nothing, not even death, to keep my promise to you, Sunshine." 

She looked up at him, her almond eyes bright with hope and love. He stepped closer, if that was even possible, until she was against his chest. "I know it will take you years to forgive me for leaving you, Cal. For leaving our son." Leo's voice cracked on the word "son". It felt so foreign. Even so, Leo knew from the moment he laid eyes on his son that he wanted nothing more than to be his father. "I swear on the River Styx that I will alway come back to you, Sunshine. I'll come back to both of you." 

Calypso began crying again as she launched herself into his arms. "Gods, Leo. You have no idea how much I missed you. I love you, Leo Valdez. I love you with all of my heart." Leo could feel his own tears, but he didn't care. "I love you too, Calypso Valdez." He replied, pulling her closer and kissing her with a passion that he had been feeling since the moment he saw her the second time, standing on the beach with her stern glare and the words that solidifed his feelings for her, "You're late." 

Leo pulled away, wrapping his arm securely around his wife's waist before he walked into the living room. Ethan looked up with a gummy smile and held out his arms. "Da-da." Leo tried to hide his surprise as he lifted his son into his arms, resting Ethan's head on his shoulder. Calypso laughed quietly from his side. "I showed him countless pictures of you from the moment he was born. That way, he would know you were a part of his life even if you weren't there in person."

Leo grinned, pulling both his son and his wife into a hug. "You're everything I ever needed, Sunshine." She smiled through her tears, placing a searing kiss on his lips before kissing her son's head. Standing in his living room, one arm tight around Calypso's waist and the other holding Ethan, he knew for sure that he was home. He had kept his promise. He came back to her, and to a son he never knew he had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Another day, another Caleo fic because I can't stop myself. They're too cute. This one's kind of sad and overly sappy but it has an adorable heartwarming ending :)
> 
> Please let me know what you think! Sorry for taking so long to update, life has been crazy lately! 
> 
> Small update, my school just went online for a few weeks so I'll have more time to write!


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